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It's TV ads that add to time of game(The Dominion Post in Morgantown (WV)(KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Sep. 3--West Virginia got its first taste of college football under the new "speedup" rules where the clock starts as soon as the foot hits the ball on kickoffs as well as on change of possessions as soon as the ball is put in play, not when it's snapped. So how did it work? Time of game: 3:20. Not too well. "I looked at my watch when the game ended and it was 3 1/2 hours," WVU coach Rich Rodriguez said. "It did not shave time off this game, but that's because of TV commercials." The fact is, if they don't cut back on the TV commercials, they won't do much to cut time off games, and there's as much chance of the NCAA cutting out a commercial or two as there is of John Madden saying something meaningful during the course of an NFL season. The new rule did play a role in the strategy of the game, though. Just before the half, on a change of possession, to preserve time, Rodriguez called time out rather than line up and snap the ball right away. In case you were interested, the rule was saving four to five seconds by starting on the kick. To have a meaningful saving of time, you need a 100-99 game. One more for the trophy case After the game, Gov. Joe Manchin presented Rich Rodriguez with the Friends of Coal Bowl trophy, known as the Governor's Trophy. "This is a tremendous series all West Virginia can be proud of," said the man who pushed the game through. "We got a top 10 ... sorry, a Top 5 in the nation team that proved its value today. We're all proud." The governor, as might be expected, was politically correct on this day, wearing a tie picked out for him by Susan Hardesty, wife of the WVU president, David Hardesty. It was blue and gold -- and green and white. Those are the two schools' colors. Aerials This may have been the Friends of Coal Bowl but that didn't stop an airplane from circling Morgantown and Milan Puskar Stadium at Mountaineer Field towing the following message: "Stop Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Now" Apparently not everyone is a friend of coal. And there was the flyover by a West Virginia National Guard plane, which was thrilling if about a minute after the end of the anthem, catching everyone off guard. Rod beats Marshall No one made much of it this week, but Rich Rodriguez actually had faced Marshall before, as offensive coordinator for Tommy Bowden at Clemson. Marshall won that game, 13-0, a symbolic victory as the Thundering Herd went on to go 13-0 and be ranked in the Top 10. This and that West Virginia has won 37 in a row when its scored 30 or more points. ... The Mountaineers are 6-0 all-time against Marshall and the Herd can't get a chance to break that string until WVU plays in Huntington next year. ... Seven different receivers caught passes for the Mountaineers. ... Scott Kozlowski averaged a solid 38 yards a punt in his first game. BOB HERTZEL is sports editor of The Dominion Post. He can be reached at [email protected] Copyright (c) 2006, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |